Northern Renaissance Art

Slide1: By: Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY
Renaissance Art in Northern Europe: Renaissance Art in Northern Europe Should not be considered an appendage to Italian art. But, Italian influence was strong. Painting in OIL, developed in Flanders, was widely adopted in Italy. The differences between the two cultures: Italy  change was inspired by humanism with its emphasis on the revival of the values of classical antiquity. No. Europe  change was driven by religious reform, the return to Christian values, and the revolt against the authority of the Church. More princes & kings were patrons of artists.
Characteristics of Northern Renaissance Art: Characteristics of Northern Renaissance Art The continuation of late medieval attention to details. Tendency toward realism & naturalism [less emphasis on the “classical ideal”]. Interest in landscapes. More emphasis on middle-class and peasant life. Details of domestic interiors. Great skill in portraiture.
Jan van Eyck (1395 – 1441): Jan van Eyck (1395 – 1441) More courtly and aristocratic work. Court painter to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. The Virgin and Chancellor Rolin, 1435.
Van Eyck -Adoration of the Lamb, Ghent Altarpiece, 1432: Van Eyck -Adoration of the Lamb, Ghent Altarpiece, 1432
Van Eyck: The Crucifixion&The Last Judgment 1420-1425: Van Eyck:  The Crucifixion & The Last Judgment  1420-1425
Slide8: Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife (Wedding Portrait) Jan Van Eyck 1434
Jan van Eyck - Giovanni Arnolfini & His Wife (details): Jan van Eyck - Giovanni Arnolfini & His Wife (details)
Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464): Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464) The Deposition 1435
van der Weyden’s Deposition (details): van der Weyden’s Deposition (details)
Quentin Massys (1465-1530): Quentin Massys (1465-1530) Belonged to the humanist circle in Antwerp that included Erasmus. Influenced by da Vinci. Thomas More called him “the renovator of the old art.” The Ugly Dutchess, 1525-1530 
Massys’ The Moneylender & His Wife, 1514: Massys’ The Moneylender & His Wife, 1514
Renaissance Art in France: Renaissance Art in France A new phase of Italian influence in France began with the French invasions of the Italian peninsula that began in 1494. The most important royal patron was Francis I. Actively encouraged humanistic learning. Invited da Vinci and Andrea del Sarto to France. He collected paintings by the great Italian masters like Titian, Raphael, and Michelangelo.
Jean Clouet – Portrait of Francis I, 1525: Jean Clouet – Portrait of Francis I, 1525
The School of Fontainebleau: The School of Fontainebleau It revolved around the artists at Francis I’s Palace at Fontainebleau. A group of artists that decorated the Royal Palace between the 1530s and the 1560s. It was an offshoot of the Mannerist School of Art begun in Italy at the end of the High Renaissance. characterized by a refined elegance, with crowded figural compositions in which painting and elaborate stucco work were closely integrated. Their work incorporated allegory in accordance with the courtly liking for symbolism.
The School of Fontainebleau: The School of Fontainebleau Gallery [right] by Rosso Fiorentino & Francesco Primaticcio 1528-1537
Germain Pilon (1525-1590): Germain Pilon (1525-1590) The Deposition of Christ Bronze, 1580-1585.
Slide22: Jean Goujon (1510-1565) “Nymph,” 1548-1549 “Nymph & Putto,” 1547-1549
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553): Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) Court painter at Wittenberg from 1505-1553. His best portraits were of Martin Luther (to the left).
Lucas Cranach the Elder: Lucas Cranach the Elder Old Man with a Young Woman Amorous Old Woman with a Young Man
Matthias Grünewald (1470-1528): Matthias Grünewald (1470-1528) Converted to Lutheranism. Possibly involved in the Peasants’ Revolt on the peasants side. Depictions of intense emotion, especially painful emotion. The Mocking of Christ, 1503 
Matthias Grünewald’s The Crucifixion, 1502: Matthias Grünewald’s The Crucifixion, 1502
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528): Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) The greatest of German artists. A scholar as well as an artist. His patron was the Emperor Maximilian I. Also a scientist Wrote books on geometry, fortifications, and human proportions. Self-conscious individualism of the Renaissance is seen in his portraits.  Self-Portrait at 26, 1498.
Dürer – Self-Portrait in Fur-Collared Robe, 1500: Dürer – Self-Portrait in Fur-Collared Robe, 1500
Dürer The Last Supperwoodcut, 1510: Dürer The Last Supper woodcut, 1510
Durer – The Triumphal Arch, 1515-1517: Durer – The Triumphal Arch, 1515-1517
The Triumphal Arch, details: The Triumphal Arch, details
The Triumphal Arch, details: The Triumphal Arch, details
Dürer FourHorsemenof theApocalypsewoodcut, 1498: Dürer Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse woodcut, 1498
Hans Holbein, the Younger (1497-1543): Hans Holbein, the Younger (1497-1543) One of the great German artists who did most of his work in England. While in Basel, he befriended Erasmus. Erasmus Writing, 1523  Henry VIII was his patron from 1536. Great portraitist noted for: Objectivity & detachment. Doesn’t conceal the weaknesses of his subjects.
Artist to the Tudors: Artist to the Tudors Henry VIII (left), 1540 and the future Edward VI (above), 1543.
Holbein’s, The Ambassadors, 1533: Holbein’s, The Ambassadors, 1533 A Skull
Multiple Perspectives: Multiple Perspectives
The English Were More Interested in Architecture than Painting: The English Were More Interested in Architecture than Painting Hardwick Hall, designed by Robert Smythson in the 1590s, for the Duchess of Shrewsbury [more medieval in style].
Burghley House for William Cecil: Burghley House for William Cecil The largest & grandest house of the early Elizabethan era.
Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516): Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) A pessimistic view of human nature. Had a wild and lurid imagination. Fanciful monsters & apparitions. Untouched by the values of the Italian Quattrocento, like mathematical perspective. His figures are flat. Perspective is ignored. More a landscape painter than a portraitist. Philip II of Spain was an admirer of his work.
HieronymusBoschThe Garden of Earthy Delights1500: Hieronymus Bosch The Garden of Earthy Delights 1500
HieronymusBoschThe Garden of Earthy Delights(details)1500: Hieronymus Bosch The Garden of Earthy Delights (details) 1500
HieronymusBoschThe Cureof Folly1478-1480: Hieronymus Bosch The Cure of Folly 1478-1480
HieronymusBoschThe Temptation of St. Anthony1506-1507: Hieronymus Bosch The Temptation of St. Anthony 1506-1507
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569): Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569) One of the greatest artistic geniuses of his age. Worked in Antwerp and then moved to Brussels. In touch with a circle of Erasmian humanists. Was deeply concerned with human vice and follies. A master of landscapes; not a portraitist. People in his works often have round, blank, heavy faces. They are expressionless, mindless, and sometimes malicious. They are types, rather than individuals. Their purpose is to convey a message.
Bruegel’s, Tower of Babel, 1563: Bruegel’s, Tower of Babel, 1563
Bruegel’s, Mad Meg, 1562: Bruegel’s, Mad Meg, 1562
Bruegel’s, The Beggars, 1568: Bruegel’s, The Beggars, 1568
Bruegel’s, Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind, 1568: Bruegel’s, Parable of the Blind Leading the Blind, 1568
Bruegel’s, Niederlandisch Proverbs, 1559: Bruegel’s, Niederlandisch Proverbs, 1559
Bruegel’s, The Triumph of Death, 1562: Bruegel’s, The Triumph of Death, 1562
Bruegel’s, Hunters in the Snow, 1565: Bruegel’s, Hunters in the Snow, 1565
Bruegel’s, Winter Scene, 1565: Bruegel’s, Winter Scene, 1565
Bruegel’s, The Harvesters, 1565: Bruegel’s, The Harvesters, 1565
Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco): Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco) The most important Spanish artist of this period was Greek. 1541 – 1614. He deliberately distorts & elongates his figures, and seats them in a lurid, unearthly atmosphere. He uses an agitated, flickering light. He ignores the rules of perspective, and heightens the effect by areas of brilliant color. His works were a fitting expression of the Spanish Counter-Reformation.
El GrecoChrist in Agony on the Cross1600s: El Greco Christ in Agony on the Cross 1600s
El GrecoPortrait of aCardinal1600: El Greco Portrait of a Cardinal 1600
El Greco’s, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586-1588: El Greco’s, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586-1588
El Greco’s, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586-1588 (details): El Greco’s, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586-1588 (details)
El Greco’s, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1578-1580: El Greco’s, The Burial of Count Orgaz, 1578-1580
El GrecoThe View of Toledo 1597-1599: El Greco The View of Toledo 1597-1599
Conclusions: Conclusions The artistic production of Northern Europe in the 16c was vast, rich, and complex. The Northern Renaissance ended with a Mannerist phase, which lasted a generation longer in the North than it did in Italy, where it was outmoded by 1600.